GLENDALE, Ariz. ­— Osi Umenyiora walked through the tunnels underneath University of Phoenix Stadium like a man traveling back in time.

“I was having déjà vu,” he said. “Flashbacks, I should say.”

Flashbacks, of course, to another game — Super Bowl XLII — in which Umenyiora and the Giants' defensive line helped make a last stand after an Eli Manning comeback.

But given the current season, and Umenyiora’s current state, perhaps it was even a familiar feeling of showing the skills that have made him one of the league’s best pass rushers.

“We had to close the game,” said Umenyiora, who had knee surgery this summer and hadn’t practiced extensively before this past week or played in a game before today’s 31-27 Giants victory over the Arizona Cardinals. “The offense had done a good job of scoring those two touchdowns. We had to finish.”

In the end, Umenyiora came up with a sack of Kevin Kolb after the Cardinals had marched into the Giants’ half of the field. And after the pass rush pressured Kolb on Arizona’s last-gasp fourth down, Corey Webster knocked away a pass toward Larry Fitzgerald.

All of which helped the defense overcome two things: nearly a full game of watching Cardinals running back Beanie Wells run for a career-high 138 yards and three touchdowns and the absence of defensive end Justin Tuck, out with lingering groin and neck injuries.

“They did a good job scheming us in certain situations,” said Tuck, who still made the trip out west. “I thought we did a pretty good job against the run in the first half and they did a good job of going in and making some adjustments.”

But the Giants knew Tuck’s injury was big — so much so that coach Tom Coughlin scoffed when asked after the game how Tuck’s absence had impacted his defense.

“He’s one very talented football player that’s not playing,” said Coughlin. “That’s the answer. You have a guy who’s out of your rotation that very much should be a part of your rotation. He couldn’t go … so we went with the guys that were prepared to go.”

One of those guys was Umenyiora, who was limited by what Coughlin called a “governor” of between 30 and 35 snaps.

“I was itching to get in there a couple times, but they held me back and I think it was probably for my own good,” Umenyiora said.

When he did get in, he made an impact. With the Giants reeling from poor field position and the Cards driving for a second score at the Giants' 17-yard line early in the first quarter, Umenyiora sacked Kolb and forced a fumble that the Giants recovered.